Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto signed a strategic partnership agreement with Russia on Thursday following talks in St Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The agreement comes as Indonesia enters the BRICS grouping as a full member, and Prabowo on Thursday thanked Putin for his support on Indonesia’s BRICS bid.
“Today we have met and our relationship is getting stronger again,” Prabowo said in a statement.
“My meeting with President Putin today was intense, warm and productive. In all fields of economics, technical cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture, they all have experienced significant improvements,” the statement said.
Putin called Indonesia one of Russia’s “key partners” in the Asia Pacific.
“Our relations are mutually beneficial and are steadily developing on the basis of long-standing traditions of friendship and mutual assistance,” he said.
Another BRIC in the wall
The BRICS grouping was conceived as a counter to Western-led forums like the G7, and has provided Putin with an avenue out of international diplomatic isolation over his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow’s deepening of ties with Indonesia is seen as part of a bid to partner with more global south countries.
During the meeting Thursday at St Petersburg’s Constantine Palace, Putin said he was confident Indonesia would make a significant contribution to the BRICS grouping, whose other members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Russia has also proposed deepening military, security, trade and nuclear ties with Indonesia.
During the meeting, sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia and the Russian Direct Investment Fund agreed to create an investment fund worth $2.29 billion (€2 billion).
Indonesia’s non-alignment
Indonesia’s president maintains a non-aligned foreign policy, vowing to share close ties with any country, including Russia and the United States.
Prabowo’s government has already announced trade concessions to avert the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump.
He also insists Indonesia will not join any military bloc, although it conducted joint naval exercises with Russia in the Java Sea last November.
In 2023, it upgraded its relationship with the US to a comprehensive strategic partnership. And Prabowo’s government has already announced trade concessions to avert the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, Jakarta’s close ties with Russia have caused concern among Indonesia’s Western allies. Prabowo skipped the G7 summit in Canada this week in favor of meeting Putin in Russia.
His last visit to Russia was in August 2024, as Indonesian defense minister and president-elect.
At the time he described Russia as a “great friend.”
Edited by: Zac Crellin
